Dentistry/Black line stain

QuestionDear Dr. Moss,
My 19 year old son started getting severe black line stain when he was about 6 years old. Starting in his teens, his pediatric dentist's solution had been to have cleanings every 3 months where they scrape it off. They always removed it all but it would come back within 3 months. Sometimes they would take over an hour to clean his teeth. He recently went to a new adult dentist and they only removed a small amount of it and he is now very self conscience about it. I have called local dentists trying to find one who can help treat it and I can't find one. I had read about using Comet or Ajax. Is it the abrasive with the rubbing that works or is it the bleach part or both? How do we figure out if it is a metallic precipitate or bacteria/fungus? Does it matter exactly what it is when using the Comet or Ajax treatment?
Thank you very much.

AnswerDarlene,
ignore the stain, and the dentists that want to keep cleaning it off.
The abrasive makes no difference, you just dont want to damage the enamel by using it to hard or too often.
Many people are lucky enough to have this kind of protective saliva, just treat the aesthetics.
All the best,
Dr. Moss

Expertise

I am a professor emeritus at New York University, with a background that includes extensive research, scientific writing and biology. I also am an international consultant in health education, particularly in developing education on new science for health professionals and consumers. I am a past president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, former head of the NYU Division of Oral Biology and I represent the World Dental Federation at the United Nations. I travel around the world to provide health education to professionals and consumers.

Experience

Having retired from New York Universit, where I directed the pediatric dentistry training program, a walk-in dental clinic and research on oral biology, I formalized my professional and consumer health education initiative in the form of Health Education Enterprises. This entity consults and provides information on new science pertaining to oral and general health, particularly leading edge concepts that can be employed in the health professions to improve the public's health. As such, I am an expert in communicating new science and its usefulness to professional and lay audiences alike. I also had a pediatric dentistry practice in New York City for nearly 30 years.

OrganizationsI am affiliated with the American Dental Association, the World Dental Federation, the International Association of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Association of Pediatric Dentistry among other formal organizations. My experience has included a research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health and work at the Forsythe Dental Research Center